Grammar Police Officer

Wasting Time Instead of Grading

--GASP-- Yes, I am grading papers on a Sunday. Get over it. (Actually I think it is a bit of a problem because the whole point of Sunday is to rest and look forward to eternity resting in Christ's salvation. And here I am grading and really hating it.) Well...the pile of papers must be lessened! And now is the time! And I AM enabled through Christ to do all things...even grade papers.

I had a great conversation this morning with a friend who is still at Covenant. She had been on vacation here (actually on Maui, a completely different island) and I finally got a hold of her asking how her time went. We talked a bit about the culture here...and here is something that we both noticed.

Hawaii is really far away. Obviously, in distance, but also in mindset.

• It takes forever on the plane to get here! My flight from Salt Lake City was 6 hours! And most of it was over water. That is a lot of water. Did you know that the Hawaiian Islands are the most remote island chain in the world?
  Hawaii is the only US state that once had royalty. Correct me if I am wrong, but the only other states that were once other countries are Texas (Lone Star Republic) and California (Bear Flag Republic). (Does Utah count? Did Brigham ever make Mormonland an independent nation?) But they were republics. Hawaii was an internationally recognized nation with internationally recognized ali'i.


• I can't think of another state that has such a unique culture. Is there any other state where you can wear clothes that are from there? I mean, everyone here wears aloha shirts and muumuus. Aloha print! Big flowers and bright colors! Can you wear a "New Jersey Print" shirt? Or a "Portland-style" dress? I really don't think so.


• Locals here really don't realize the difference between different places on the mainland. I tell them I am from Colorado, and they tell me that they have a niece in San Francisco. Or a grandson in Santa Rosa, or some other Californian city. One aunty had lived in Denver for 11 months, so she knew about Colorado, but there doesn't seem to be that much distinction between all the different faraway mainland places. San Francisco is far away, but so is Colorado, and so is Chattanooga, and so is Amsterdam. It's all just far away. On the mainland.


• I watch CBS evening news every evening, to keep up with that is going on over there on the mainland. We never get mentioned! If we are really a part of the nation, then why isn't there more of a mention of Hawaiian news? If there was a massive bus driver strike in Kansas City or Birmingham you can bet it would at least get a mention. (There is a citywide bus strike in Hololulu. So if you don't have a car or if you are a college student, then it sucks to be you. And last week, the HandiVan service was also closed down, so if you are a disabled person depending on HandiVan for mobility, then it also sucks to be you. Anyone want to know my opinion on the Bus Strike ("we want raises even though the nation is in a recession right now!!") or the HandiVan Strike ("sorry, wheelchair-bound college student, we are afraid of the Teamsters Union, so you can't go to your classes this week. Next!")? A huge storm in Kansas City over Labor Day was mentioned; we had a hurricane and we got barely 10 seconds. "Hurricane Jimena has been downgraded to Tropical Storm Jimena. It is still heading for The Big Island in the Hawaiian Chain, and storm swell, 100-mile-an-hour winds are predicted for Hilo and the southern part of the east coast of The Big Island. In other news..."
• There's also the time difference. I call people when I get up for the day at 5:30 am. It is already 11:30 on the East Coast by then, and 9:30 if I want to call my parents. I called Grandma and Papa today (it's Grandparents' Day!) after I got home from church and it was already dinnertime there. I feel as if I am calling from a spaceship or something...I always have to figure in my head if I am going to wake people up if I call them when I get home from work. It's just one more thing that makes the mainland seem seem so far away.

I know this sounds like a rant, but it really isn't. It is an explanation of how it feels to have been here for just 3 weeks. I am not even a native. I will be kama'aina (local) when I get my Hawaii drivers' license. But I am working hard at observing the culture so I can fit in better, and this is what I have observed so far. The bottom line is this: Every morning in Morning Assembly, all the students salute the American Flag, but the 50th state seems like an afterthought. We didn't even become a state till 1959! (Yes, we weren't a state during the Pearl Harbor attack!)

Well, that is about all for now.